


i remember when your head caught flame

by noirshitsuji



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Episode: s03 Poupeflekta | Reflekdoll Spoilers, F/M, Gen, Marinette figures out Chat Noir's identity, Partial Identity Reveal, Post-Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Post-Episode: s03 Oblivio, Post-Episode: s03 Papa-Garou | Weredad, Post-Episode: s03 Poupeflekta | Reflekdoll, Secret Identity, one-sided identity reveal, post-episode reflections
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25528669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noirshitsuji/pseuds/noirshitsuji
Summary: ‘So I might as well destroy you, me, our memories, everything.’This is usually where she stopped her thought process. She feared she was close to crossing a line she dared not near, but the open Parisian skies could not distract her as well as her chores, so for the first time that day, she did.Or, the one where Marinette does some reflection after facing Chat Blanc, and puts all the pieces together.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 2
Kudos: 122





	i remember when your head caught flame

He had scared her, he really had, and if she wanted to sleep that night, it meant she needed to see her partner – whole and pure and in black – immediately. She rushed through the other tasks – lying to Adrien, lying to her friends, lying to the world that “ _everything is fine”._ The affirmative reply to her message requesting a meet-up on the top of Montparnasse tower helped her keep it together as she rushed throughout the day, busying herself with various things until sunset.

One of these was a list of everything she knew about her partner; an attempt to chase the white negative of his akumatised form away from her mind’s eye. When she finally took to swinging from rooftop to rooftop, she went through it in another attempt to squash the apprehension she felt at the thought of seeing him:

  1. Chat Noir had green eyes, with the mask or without it (the neon made them look poisonously so, but as Mr. Bug they’d been a warm, spring colour).
  2. He was blond, eternally mussed-up hair soft when she scratched between his ears.
  3. He was slightly taller than her, maybe, but it was hard to tell when he never towered over her.
  4. Incorrigible flirt, though he didn’t expect anything back.
  5. (He gave everything, including his life, without expecting anything back.)
  6. Terrible sense of humour. His delivery did nothing to make her want to stifle her giggles any less.
  7. Probably the biggest heart in Paris. (Which she did not, upon reflection, deserve to hold…)
  8. (…Even if she wanted to.) ‘It’s our love that did this to the world, m’lady.’



‘So I might as well destroy you, me, our memories, **everything**.’

This is usually where she stopped her thought process. She feared she was close to crossing a line she dared not near, but the open Parisian skies could not distract her as well as her chores, so for the first time that day, she did.

He had discovered her identity after she’d slipped and given it away to Adrien. That had triggered the events that lead to his akumatisation. These lines, though, implied that in-between, she and Chat had started dating. Chat Noir had discovered who she was, had revealed himself to her, and she had accepted him. _Our love._

It could have been the akuma talking, but something nudged at her memory (Oblivio), forcing her to acknowledge it was not the case. The implication behind his words was true.

But if she followed that line of thought a bit further…she would not have accepted Chat if he had revealed himself to her, or told her he knew her identity. The point of keeping them secret was to protect their loved ones, and she would not have started dating him since it would have put them both at risk. And her kitty, he knew her well; he wouldn’t do it. He’d know not to.

That left the possibility of Chat pursuing her as Marinette. Not a lot of time had passed between the gift and his akumatisation – a couple of months at most. Civilian Chat was someone Marinette could fall for easily while simultaneously not picking up on his identity as Chat Noir. He would have had to act differently.

He would have been the same under it all, though. His terrible sense of humour would have slipped through. His smile, his eyes, his hair – the same, possibly with slight alterations to the latter if Queen Bee and Rena Rouge were anything to go by.

Someone Marinette could fall for easily (possibly within the hour, given Oblivio).

Or rather, someone Ladybug would refuse to admit having fallen for, for all the complications involved (Weredad had been enough of a warning).

He was humming the same tune when she arrived. She told him she had nothing to say to him anymore. It had been on the tip of her tongue, the next step. One she could only take with him.

Instead, she put her head on his shoulder, he put his on top, and continued to hum. After a while, they laid down on the concrete of the building and she watched his (no longer poisonous to her) green eyes close, the sunset streaking his hair. She reached out to gently scratch his ears. His hair was as soft as always. He gave a contented sigh.

She watched Adrien in front of her the following morning, too, back straight, facing the math problem on the board. The early morning sun appeared to do different things to blond hair than the sunset did.

But she imagined it was just as soft.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Chat Blanc the other day and my fingers slipped. Happy Ladynoir July, everyone, even if this doesn't fit with any of the themes.
> 
> I'm now on Tumblr as noirshitsuji.


End file.
